An NBA Live Curse?

Terrible. Just terrible. That was my initial reaction when I heard that Gilbert Arenas was going to have to miss at least three months after having surgery to repair a partially torn meniscus in the same leg he suffered a torn meniscus last April. You have to assume he had a pretty rough Thanksgiving with all of the problems he was dealing with in his personal life.

I won't get into the family troubles that Arenas opened up about in a very compelling blog entry on NBA.com, but you hate to see a guy who works so hard to be one of the best players in the league go out like this (I won't even get into how uniquely entertaining he is).

Is EA Sports to blame?

This just seemed like the worst possible year for him to be coming back from a knee surgery. For one, he planned on opting out of his contract next summer in hopes of landing a maximum extension. And two, the Wizards were unwisely referring to this as a make-or-break, "clock's-ticking" season. Put those fragile situations together and it's a bad mix for rational thinking.

Gilbert is a guy who needs to play basketball. It's his sustenance. But throughout the preseason and even last week, Coach Eddie Jordan said he wasn't "the real Gil." I was a little worried about Arenas pushing himself to get back too soon. Since he had never dealt with an injury like this, it would be tough for him to know how hard he needs to go.

Watching how Dwyane Wade took his time before rushing back from knee and shoulder surgeries and keeping an eye on how Phoenix rested Amare Stoudemire some after he came back from knee surgery, I thought the Wizards should follow suit. I remember saying on the John Thompson radio show, before the Wizards played New Jersey, that the team should shut him down until he can be "the real Gil." It was troubling that he needed to drain his knee twice in two months. Then, Jason Kidd told him that he needed to be more cautious and patient.

Unfortunately, Arenas kept going until his body told him no more. It's easy to go back and try to figure out how this could've been avoided, but that won't help anyone feel better.

While I was cooking up turkey, macaroni and cheese and all that good stuff Thursday, but I couldn't help but wonder if there was some evil force behind this.

The Curse O' Le Boulez has almost been beaten to death. There has to be something more sinister. Most NFL fans are familiar with the Madden Curse, which has ruined the seasons for several stars who have graced the cover of the popular video game. The more I thought about it, the more I decided that I should look and see if there is some sort of NBA Live Curse, since both games are made by EA Sports.

You remember how excited Gilbert was about being on the cover of NBA Live '08. He even had a press conference before Game 3 of the Wizards' eventual sweep against Cleveland last season in the playoffs. He might've been the only person associated with the Wizards who was smiling that day.

But is there something to this? Is there an NBA Live Curse?

I went through every NBA Live Cover Boy since EA Sports started putting individual players on the box in 1996. It's obvious how it has worked out for the '08 Cover Boy. You'll find that five of them had some misfortune after being on the cover. One had a dream season, winning an NBA championship. The others didn't have any headscratching incidents, but most of them either failed to make the playoffs or were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Here you go:

NBA Live '07
Tracy McGrady, Houston Rockets

Not much here. McGrady played 71 games - he missed seven with back spasms, one to a sore lower back, one to flu-like symptoms and one due to a stiff lower back - and made All-NBA Second Team last season. He averaged 24.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and a career-best 6.5 assists as the Rockets won 52 games and earned homecourt advantage in the first round.

Houston lost to Utah in seven games, with McGrady having an emotional, almost tearful breakdown when his record dropped to 0-6 in playoff series. Can't blame a curse on that.

NBA Live '06
Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat

Don't even bother. Wade played 75 games, averaging 27.2 points, 6.7 assists and a career-high 5.7 rebounds in 2005-06. He made All-NBA Second-Team, led the Heat to its first NBA championship and won NBA Finals MVP. Maybe it was a blessing.

NBA Live '05
Carmelo Anthony, Denver Nuggets

Okay, there might be something here. Could Anthony have had a worse encore to his rookie season? Before the 2004-05 season started, he clashed with Coach Larry Brown in the Athens Olympics, got into a fight at a club in New York, was cited for marijuana possession (a charge that was later dropped) and three men tried to extort him for $3 million in exchange for a tape of the fight.

Then, he was involved in a controversy for a brief appearance in an underground DVD, "Stop Snitching," which glorified the drug trade and showed drug dealers threatening to kill people who snitch on them.

Anthony was so bummed that his poor play contributed to Jeff Bzdelik getting fired midseason. He needed George Karl to come out of an ESPN booth to make a miraculous run to the playoffs, where the Nuggets lost in the first round. Anthony averaged a career-low 20.8 points and 5.7 rebounds. Not good.

NBA Live '04
Vince Carter, Toronto Raptors

Surprisingly, Carter did not have a serious injury that season, his last full one with the Raptors. He had a rather Vinsane individual performance, averaging 22.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists, but even rookie Chris Bosh couldn't save the Raptors from reeking of hot garbage. They won just 33 games in 2003-04.

Carter was so miserable in Toronto that he demanded a trade the following summer. By December of '04, Carter had pouted and sulked his way to New Jersey. The Raptors were awful, but again, no curse.

NBA Live '03
Jason Kidd, New Jersey Nets

Just like his future teammate Carter, Kidd had a great season, but a questionable offseason. Kidd played 80 games, averaged 18.7 points, a league-leading 8.9 assists and 6.3 rebounds, and led the Nets to the NBA Finals for the second year in a row. Kidd entered free agency that summer and flirted with the San Antonio Spurs before signing a six-year, $103 million contract with the Nets. The Spurs have won two championships since then. The Nets haven't made it past the second round. Think he'd like a do-over? Still, no curse there, either

NBA Live '02
Steve Francis, Houston Rockets

Bingo. The Franchise averaged career-highs of 21.6 points and 7 rebounds with 6.4 assists. He also made his first all-star start. What's the problem? Francis was affected by an inner ear infection that gave him daily migraines. The disorder, combined with a foot injury, forced him to miss 25 games.

The good news, though, was the Rockets were so bad that they were able to draft Yao Ming No. 1. A Curse and a Gift.

NBA Live '01
Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves

Bad. Bad. Bad. This was a season that greatly affected Garnett and the Timberwolves, but not because of anything that happened on the court. Garnett suffered a huge loss in the summer of 2000, when his closest friend on the team - and the reason he chose to wear No. 21 - Malik Sealy died in a car accident. Garnett paid homage to Sealy for the rest of his time in Minnesota, keeping an empty locker stall next to his which read, "No. 2 Sealy."

During the season, Minnesota was caught in a salary-cap tampering scandal involving Joe Smith which resulted in the Timberwolves losing five first-round draft picks (the number was later reduced to three) and receiving a $3.5 million fine. Vice president of basketball operations Kevin McHale also was forced into an unpaid leave of absence.

On the court, Garnett played 81 games and managed to produce 22 points, 11.4 rebounds and 5 assists. The Timberwolves, however, were bounced in four games in the first round against San Antonio. Pretty bad overall.

NBA Live '00
Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs

Might be something to this. Coming off his first NBA championship, the reigning NBA Finals MVP Duncan had a great regular season, averaging 23.2 points and 12.4 rebounds and winning co-MVP honors at the 2000 All-Star Game - but it ended horribly.

Earlier in the season, his string of 186 consecutive games played came to an end when he suffered an abdominal strain, but that was just the beginning. Duncan then missed the final four games of the regular season and all of the playoffs after suffering - see if this sounds familiar - a torn left lateral meniscus. The Spurs lost in the first round and failed to repeat. Hmmm. Sounds strange to me.

NBA Live '99
Antoine Walker, Boston Celtics

A rather questionable selection, considering the Celtics stunk back then. But Walker had a pretty cool commercial, which gave birth to a nickname that failed to truly stick - Cybertoine.

The NBA had a lockout, reducing the regular season to just 50 games, but even with the addition of rookie Paul Pierce, Coach Rick Pitino couldn't win any more than 19 games. Cybertoine averaged 18.7 points and 8.5 rebounds, but he had a string of 176 consecutive starts snapped because of sprained left ankle. No curse here.

NBA Live '98
Tim Hardaway

Another odd choice, really. Luckily for Hardaway, John Amaechi wasn't in the league that season and hadn't come out of the closet. Hardaway played 81 games, averaged 18.9 points and 8.3 assists and named to the All-NBA Second Team.

But despite the Heat winning 55 games and the Atlantic Division, the No. 7 seed Knicks upset second-seeded Miami in the first round. Peculiar, but probably not caused by a curse (Does anybody remember that series? How can you forget Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson throwing weak punches that didn't land and Jeff Van Gundy hanging on Mourning's leg? That was classic material).

NBA Live '97
Mitch Richmond, Sacramento Kings

People tend to forget that before Richmond came to Washington, he was a bad, bad boy (not bad meaning bad, but bad meaning good). Richmond played 81 games and averaged a career-high 25.9 points and 4.2 assists. A funny aside: a little-known assistant coach named Eddie Jordan got his first shot, replacing Garry St. Jean for the final 15 games that season.

There is no curse here, but there is an interesting back story involving Richmond, Jordan and the Wizards. The following season, Jordan implemented this thing called the Princeton offense and had the Kings in the playoff hunt after leading them to 24 wins in the first 53 games. But Richmond came down with a right knee injury and Sacramento plunged to a 3-26 finish. Jordan lost his job and Richmond, who was upset about his contract, was traded with Otis Thorpe to the Wizards for Chris Webber. Splendid trade, right?

NBA Live '96
Shaquille O'Neal, Orlando Magic

O'Neal was the first NBA player to appear on the cover of EA Sports professional basketball game. He was the first Cover Boy to suffer a rough regular season. O'Neal fractured his right thumb in the preseason and was forced to miss the first 22 games. He missed another four with a bruised left quadriceps and two more due to the passing of his maternal grandmother.

Still, O'Neal was dominant when he was on the floor, as he averaged 26.6 points and 11 rebounds and the Magic won 60 games. It would have been a great season any other year, except the Chicago Bulls won 72 games. When the teams met in the conference finals, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Toni Kukoc and Phil Jackson pulled out a 4-0 sweep.

That was the last time O'Neal would don an Orlando uniform. He bolted as a free agent the following summer, leaving the Magic to deal with the Curse of the Shaqbino, which still hasn't been broken (Although Dwight Howard is looking like he might change that in the near future).

The curse that haunts and afflicts the Brothers (that's what I now call the Bullets/Wizards) is truly mysterious. It was named in jest by a journalist, who, in Pulitzer-winning fashion, knew not what he was on to. Ascribing it now to a video game is equally clueless, but absurdly so. I guess with the regularly scheduled comic relief in abeyance for 3 months, someone has to pick up the ball. Better a scribe than a baller.

Can't be the curse of NBA Live b/c Gilby hurt his knee end of last season. If anything, being in the spotlight heightens one's visibility, and pressure to perform, so that the real reason why things have happened the way they happened.

EJ can't be blamed for any of this. Gilby is his own man, and he makes the call on whether he plays or not. If Gilby said he's opting out for security for his family, then he should have been smart enough to rest up for the security of his family.

Gilby running with that dumb parachute and biking around town and playing unmonitored pickup games at Barry Farms probably contributed way more to the wear and tear of his knee than any extra minutes he played during this season.

Also, what's up with that hyperbaric chamber that he bought to heal himself faster? Is he sleeping in that again? Let's hope Gilby doesn't become "Hot Plate 2," since the holidays are here and he's basically immobile.

Of course Gilby wants to re-sign here. That's b/c Les BouleS can give him the most money!! At first Gilby said yesterday that the thought of "opting out" is the furthest from his mind right now. Now, he's saying he wants to stay here.

WHATEVAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Amen to this people. I said this as soon as I read about it this summer:

"Although this is purely speculative on his part, Arenas said the second injury might have been a result of the arduous rehab schedule he endured over the summer.

"I don't want to look back on it, but I pushed myself like I wasn't injured," Arenas said. "Maybe I worked too hard and fatigued some of the muscles, and that's why this has happened but I don't know. I only know how to work one way, and that's hard."

Look for Arenas to use more supervision in this rehabilitation."

Les BouleS hold the cards now. Like I said before, if Gilby opts out, Les BouleS should let him test the waters, and then just match the contract unless they can swing a trade. Don't give him a dime more than any other team out there.

Wizzinator. It speaks volumes that you render your assessment on the team based on one game. I guess since the 2nd Indiana game was the end all be all in rendering judgment, Les BouleS should quit while they're ahead.

Oh, BTW, what has Baron Davis won? Baron Davis is a great individual and explosively physical player, probably moreso than Gilby, and has evolved his game to include his teammates, but he's won nothing.

Posted by: DC Man88 | November 22, 2007 03:06 AM

Yo DCidiot, I never said that was end all game, I said that was when they STARTED to play with good defense and sharing the ball, with Gil starting. Then it continued onto the next game vs Minny, Gil getting 27 and 8 dimes.

BTW, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Kevin Garnett hasn't done anything either...yet. Did I say Baron Davis won anything? I just said that Gil is similar to Davis that they are both the best players on their respective teams, past and present.

Why don't you try to understand the post first before letting your hate of Gil get to you and throwing out dumb, non-pertinent remarks that have nothing to do with the point at hand? Just as you claim Gilby to be a good nick for Gil, I have to agree with others that your nick suits you quite well, DCidiot.

Les BouleS hold the cards now. Like I said before, if Gilby opts out, Les BouleS should let him test the waters, and then just match the contract unless they can swing a trade. Don't give him a dime more than any other team out there.

Posted by: DC Man88 | November 23, 2007 09:06 AM

DC - The Wizards would not have the option to match, because Gil would be an UFA right? So there is a chance he could take a lower offer just to spite the Wizards if they do not offer him the max. The Wizards would be unable to match because Gil would not be a RFA.

That is where the Wiz don't want to go. Is Gil a max player at this time? I did not think so before the knee injuries, but he was darn close. Max player's in my mind are DWade, AI, Kobe of course, Labron, Duncan, KG, Dwight Howard, Dirk, Yao and etc.

Now I do believe Gil would graduate to that max status in about 2 more years. Now the problem is he has had two knee surgeries on the same knee within a year. Plus, the dreaded "microfracture" word was used.

Right there that puts a big question mark on a max contract. The Suns had the same dilemma, but they went on and maxed out Amaire. Is it working out for them, the jury is still out?

What Gil has to understand now is the Wizards can not take a chance on offering a max contract on somebody who has had two knee surgeries in the same year. Gil's game is getting to the rack, and without explosion half of his game is gone.

This is going to be a very tricky offseason for EG and the Wiz. Gil is not in the max position anymore, but I think he will probably look to get a max contract. On the flip side, the Wiz have to be careful to not overspend but in the same breath not lowball him and insult him either. This will be a very fine line they will have to walk.

I think Gilby's biggest problem was that he put undue pressure on himself based on his big talk and his opt out. If he kept his mouth shut, then he wouldn't have felt the self imposed pressure to come back and repeat his performance from early last season.

Hallelujah!!!!

Posted by: DC Man88 | November 22, 2007 10:29 AM

lol Funny coming from someone with a big mouth who doesn't have anything good to contribute to the blog let alone a basketball court...You truly are a classless idiot!

"The team dressed only nine players Wednesday night and though Haywood could return as soon as tonight, running a normal practice will be a challenge for Jordan unless the team elects to go over the luxury tax threshold by signing another player.

"We've been very creative in trying to prepare our team with the number of players we have," Jordan said.

Washington Post

Can't blame EJ or EG on this one. The Wiz are in a little trouble right now at the backup point guard and center spot. They will not be able to keep playing Songalia at that backup 5 spot.

AD got winded at the end of the game and OT and Mason and DS are not point guards. NY is not ready yet to run the "1" either. So guess what, we have a serious problem right there that needs to be addressed. John Lucas son is available and the dude has a nice little game. I am not impressed with Chase's game and please no more Donnell Taylor.

Abe spend millions of dollars on a stupid high tech scoreboard, but does not have the money to field a 12 man team to run practices. Can someone please tell me what is wrong with this picture????

Really not much of a curse involved, but it felt good seeing all those old game covers again. Live 95 was probably my favorite game EVER!! I used to run with Golden State back when they had Run TMC. I used to blow bamas out the waters like the Patriots. Plus they had the greatest commercial.
The one where Mutombo kept saying "I dunk on them"! And then, he dropped the classic, "I dunk on the two of the both of them", in that great Mutombo voice of his. Anybody agree/disagree with Live 95?

BF#1, I too was not impressed at all with Chase's game during the summber league. Quick, but very short stocky guy that supposed could shoot the jumper but was not much of a playmaker. His game is best decribed as a very poor man's Ty Lue.

You don't like Michael Lee because you can't write anything new about it, but it could only be the dreaded Curse O' Les Boulez. None the less, the Wizards are equipped to survive this as long as Butler and Jamison stay healthy. It is one thing not to go over the lux tax before the season, but now the Wizards are in a pinch and they need to get someone in here to back up Daniels.

Miles was definitely a great backup PG but Abe wasn't going over the cap back then, now it looks like his hands are tied and he may have to pony up before all his fans get pissed at him. Miles was already a better PG than Blake was for us, it's a shame...

I posted on here many times how I felt about Eddie Jordan's management of Arenas's minutes in the early season games.

There should have been a well thought out plan of how many minutes per game to play, and which early games to skip to avoid playing in back to backs.

The goal should have been to ramp up from the 18 minutes per game in preseason to 30-35 minutes per game which should be the goal for the big three instead of 40-45 minutes that they normally get. And back to backs should have been avoided until it was clear Gil was at 100%.

They don't schedule rehabb on back to back days for a reason. They want to know how the knee responded to the work and adjust the next rehabb session to fit. Another words guys, you may had to had cut back on his minutes in the next game.

But you know I'm sure not going to shout for joy that I've been proved right, or that I predicted anything. For any of you that have raised your kids to adulthood, you know there's no joy in being able to say I told you so after they make a big mistake that you warned them about.

When I think back the only way I knew better in the first place was that I probably made the same mistake myself, and my parents probably tried to warn me too!

About the knee, I had to have mine drained a couple of times before I learned to dail it back, listen to the knee, and pace my recovery. Took about a year, after that sometimes I'd have to think about it to remember which one it was.

But the one thing I wanted to say about all of this, Gil could have done every thing exactly like the doctors and rehabb specialists ordered and it still may have recurred. There is a need to blame someone or something when something goes wrong and and there's a reinjury or a setback.

Sometimes that's just life, along with Gil's other problems I'm sure he's going through a tough time right now. He should take his time and get himself right, my feeling is that the target should be closer to the start of next season instead of three months. I hope he gets advice from some older wiser players, he can afford to get a second opinion on the knee and give it some time. He's still really young, given the right time he'll be ok.

Where does that leave this year's team?
Scrambling to finish in the playoff hunt and not a team that's real likely to go deep unless these rookies really show something in the next few months.

Daniels is going to have to go from 6th man to a rock playing 40+ per night. The Bobcats pressed us the other night, we'll see more of that. But it won't happen every night because the way alot of NBA teams are built. Besides we were short and on the second night of a back to back and they're young and were rested. In the end it didn't work, so teams will take note of that too.

I'm sure Eddie and Ernie are talking and evauluating their options. This was a big reason not to have spent money on a 14th or 15th player until they saw what the needs might really be.

There appears to be a need now for a point that can come in and run the team for short stretches. Can Mason do it? It doesn't appear so on the surface, but my guess is that they will try and work out a rotation and see if he can handle it in spurts these next couple of games.

Liked the comments from the Bobcat fan about Butler, to those that doubt that Butler can get his shot, nobody scores 39 points without getting his own shot.

This is Butler's team right now, he'll put it on his shoulders and we'll get to see how good he can really be. I know this about him, back in 2002 when U Conn locked up with Maryland in the NCAA's he almost willed them to the win.

I'm not discounting Jamison he's still a rock for this group, between him Butler the leadership will be there. But Caron is growing into the kind of guy that can put a team on his back and carry them for stretches.

And Jamison will provide the secondary scorer and between the two of them they won't let these guys quit. We've got two great pros to lead and some great young budding talent. The cupboard's not nearly as bare as last year when the injury bug hit the Wiz.

Improved defense and ball movement will keep them in alot of games and now Butler will have to learn to be a closer. That is the toughest thing to find in the NBA, that guy that wants the ball in his hands with the clock clicking down.

If Butler steps up to that role this team will be ok til Gil gets back and then they'll have two options when the clock clicks down. The Bulls weren't a better team when Jordan "retired" but Pippen became a better player and the Bulls were a better team when Jordan returned.

In the end this could end up making the Wiz a better team. Or, they could fall apart and we'll be back to cheering for the balls to drop our way in the lottery!

Though I've proclaimed this dude to be washed up for years and a shell of his former self, does anyone think that Gary Payton could hold down the PG spot part time as AD's backup? Surely he can go hard for 10-15 minutes a game and his defensive intensity (though he no longer has the skills) could be helpful. He's not working and it's doubtful he'd want to come here for the minimum but it's worth debating.

Miles was definitely a great backup PG but Abe wasn't going over the cap back then, now it looks like his hands are tied and he may have to pony up before all his fans get pissed at him. Miles was already a better PG than Blake was for us, it's a shame...

Posted by: | November 23, 2007 10:15 AM

Anon. I agree with you all of the way. Miles had a real nice game and you could see how smooth the dude was. As I posted back in the summmer, it looks to me like Miles left for Europe because he saw the writing on the wall.

By this a mean, Chase was Gilbert's boy and Mason had already been given a guaranteed 1 year contract. DT was still here too. Miles knew Gilbert was going to push for Chase to get that 3rd point guard spot, so he left to get guaranteed money in Europe vs. trying to make the team when the superstar of the team was backing someone else who played your position. I can't say I don't blame the dude one bit, he has bills to pay.

Bad thing out of all this is, Gil took Chase with him to Barry Farms and Shaq sees him and likes him and gets him signed with Miami. Funny how Pat Riley (and me too) did not see the same thing in Chase Shaq saw, because he cut him.

Chase has still not been picked up. I wonder why? Now Miles is in Europe locked up in a contract and we can not sign him this year. He clearly had the best game of all the backup point guards we had here in the summer.

***Lisa - Thanks for the info on the scoreboard. I did not know that, I thought Uncle Abe paid for it.

If Gil had not rehabbed hard and wasn't ready to go at the start of this season, some 'Idiot' would have been complaining about him taking it easy. GA can't win with some people.
Hopefully he realizes that he's not a max guy anymore and accepts something a little less. Surely a guy coming off a couple knee surgeries knows that his value has diminished. Ultimately the market determines what happens. How many teams out there will pay max money to a guy fresh off 2 knee surgeries? none. Expect to see GA in a Wiz uniform for years at a slightly below max number. With AJ getting a reduced rate (probably 10-12 per year for 3-4 years), we're in good shape cap-wise. I'm still excited about the 5 year $1 mill that AB signed. That's a steal already. In 2 years, it'll be criminal. We should look to tear that deal up and sign him to a longer term after 2 years.

I liked Chase better than Miles this summer. The luxury tax will probably keep Abe from doing anything, though. I think we'd let AB bring the ball up a la Jeffries before we spent any more money. BTW, that scoreboard we have at Verizon is a beast. Best I've ever seen.

Add to the list of potential back-up point guards for our Wiz -- Travis Best. He was just cut for "not fitting in" with his European Champions League team (Prokom Trefl Sopot) here in Poland, but the one game I saw him he looked fit and quick, and his shot was on. PS he has been replaced by Dajuan Wagner, so go figure...

GM, I think we all agree that Gil's comeback was too much too fast. In fact he said it himself on his blog. The question, as you suggest, is how does the team allow this to happen? The mistakes were obvious to all of us and to an experienced guy like J. Kidd, so why didn't the team get a grip on the situation? You just can't run a team saying that whatever a guy wants to do, he's allowed to do.

On Butler and Jamison, I'm as big a Caron fan as anyone, but I think he'd be the first to tell you that it's his team AND AJ's. AJ's a warrior and Caron --at least for now-- simply isn't the kind of "monster" where it can be said it's "his team." So let's be content that we have two outstanding co-captains each with a ton of ability and each with leadership skills, albeit of a different kind.

Wow mark, did you watch the same summer league games as all of us did? What the hell did you see Chase do better than Miles? He certainly didn't do as good a job running the team nor play good defense as Miles did. The one thing they said he was supposedly good at was shooting the ball and in the summer league, he couldn't shoot worth a lick. There was a reason why Miami was desperate for a playmaker w/o Wade and it spoke volumes when they cut Chase anyway - he sucked! Whereas Miles was never a great shooter, even in college, he has improved on that aspect when the defense played off oh him for the pass.

I think Gil should rest his knee longer than 90 days. Like another person said, take the rest of the season off if you can.
Also, your personal problems are coming on to the court now. Your track record with this babies mama isn't good. She was the same girl who wanted to disrupt a game in Cali to serve some court papers to you on National TV.

The problem with signing anyone now is the wiz are too close to luxury tax, so, they will probably wait until mid January ( i think ... or is it after the all star break ) when then can they start signing players to 10 day contracts without any ramifications towards the lux tax. I think they are about $300K under the lux tax. Since the league min is about $600K, they would be able to sign a player to a couple of 10 day contracts (to get past the mid-point of the season), then sign him on for the remainder of the season.

I thought Gary Payton had said he wasn't interested in playing anymore. If he is I'd really look for him to be watching team's needs and positioning heading toward the playoffs. And looking to hook on with someone that could go deep into the playoffs and has a role for him. PJ Brown probably fits that bill too.

I don't think we'd really fit that discription right now. John Lucas III is an interesting name that was brought up, he's not a Maryland guy, but his dad was. But really, he's a decent point, small, but a steady ball handler. Does nothing exceptionlly well, but when I've seen him play he stays within himself. He's been well taught, as many coach's sons are.

The thing I like about giving him a look is I could see him catching on as a young backup, and his min. will be low.

I can also agree that the one other thing I can see that we may need is a physical banger inside. The amount of minutes at the 5 Songalia can play is limited when Jamison is out there too. The other night with Haywood down the Cats tried to bully us inside.

I love Blatche and I think Pecherov will also be another frontline mainstay here, but they're both still young and not real physical yet. I'm not sure that we couldn't use another guy to bang on the boards for short stretches and provide frontline depth.

I say this because with Arenas out it will change the type of games that this team will play this year. Against better teams they may have to try and grind it out a little more and try and keep teams close a look for a break in the 4th.

That's also where I see Butler's role growing and changing, he sure was wanting to put the team on his back in crunch time in Charlotte. Guys that show up like that in the 4th are an elite group in this league. I'm not diminishing anything about Jamison, he's a proven vet and we're going nowhere without him.

But now Butler's our guy that when you need a shot everybody knows the ball's going through his hands. Jamison will still get plenty of those looks, but they'll be when Butler draws the double and gets overplayed. But Butler was everywhere the other night, making steals, hitting big shots, and speaking up in the huddle.

I maybe wrong but I think that guys can be brought in on 10 day contracts and they don't count against the luxury cap. They have to be cut at season end so any other team has the chance to sign them.

So I'd assume that once the team gets a break after these next two back to backs there might be some guys brought in so we'll be dressing 12. Part of that will depend on how long Haywood's hobbled and when Pecherov makes it back, but anybody that's brought in will be used as a bit player.

Most of the playing time is going to go to guys that are already here. The Wiz are so close to that Luxury Tax Level and there's so little out there available, I just can't see Grunfeld making a big move right now.

Chris Paul, I believe, is only in his 3rd year and may still on his rookie contract.

Posted by: | November 23, 2007 12:05 PM

Yea, I know Chris Paul is still on his rookie contract. What I meant was when it is time for him to sign his 2nd contract, do any of you think he deserves a "max" contract?

The reason I ask this is because although Paul's and Gilbert's games are different they both seem like they impact their teams in the same kind of way.

Thus, I would just like to do a "cost comparsion" between the two pertaining to contracts. If most people think Paul should get a max contract on his 2nd deal, I would tend to think they would say the same about Gilbert. Your thoughts...??

Lets just focus on tonights game with GS & the upcoming road trip. One game @ a time. Keep the plan simple & if Pesh can't make it by Jan, you need to spend the tax money. Ivan, see you tonight with popcorn in hand.

Arenas is out, until he comes back if you don't have anything to say about the rest of the team. Then Stick a sock in it instead of trying to start another Gilby debate.

I guess now's when we get to see if you're a Wizard's fan like you say 88'er, or if you're just on here to spout about Arenas 24/7.

The only good thing about Arenas going down is you pretty much have nothing left to talk about.

My guess is that soon we'll be hearing about the latest gilbert siting, if he should have been at the game, or why did he come to the lockerroom and didn't stay for the game, and ole my god! It goes on and on!

You know, reading you and your sick obsession, and I'm almost hoping Gil does go somewhere else so you'll follow him.

And then you can entertain those fans with the stories about how Gil answered your E-Mail once. After it was mentioned here about 30 or 40 times it got really old.

I've rooted for this team since Earl the Pearl's rookie season and I'll keep rooting for them through good times and bad. Like most here I like to talk about this team and find you're not really relevent most of the time.

Come up with something thoughtful and intelligent to say once and awhile and you might get civil intelligent responses for a change.

"The problem with signing anyone now is the wiz are too close to luxury tax, so, they will probably wait until mid January ( i think ... or is it after the all star break ) when then can they start signing players to 10 day contracts without any ramifications towards the lux tax. I think they are about $300K under the lux tax. Since the league min is about $600K, they would be able to sign a player to a couple of 10 day contracts (to get past the mid-point of the season), then sign him on for the remainder of the season.

Also, I pretty sure the Aaron Miles signed a two year deal.

Posted by: 2cents4wiz | November 23, 2007 12:18 PM "

This is the exact reason why EJ was quoted last year as saying this:

"On a larger scale, Jordan wants to win now. Like any coach who signed a two-year extension with a team option for the third year last summer, the continuity line gets old.

"But I understand Mr. Pollin's standpoint," Jordan said. "We want to stay within a certain budget for the Washington Wizards. We're not going to be like four or five or six other teams that can do anything it takes to win. Those are decisions we made within the organization. It doesn't bother me. There are times when you say, 'How come we can't get this guy?' But then you say, 'These are the parameters the organization has set.' ""

"Arenas is out, until he comes back if you don't have anything to say about the rest of the team. Then Stick a sock in it instead of trying to start another Gilby debate.

I guess now's when we get to see if you're a Wizard's fan like you say 88'er, or if you're just on here to spout about Arenas 24/7.

The only good thing about Arenas going down is you pretty much have nothing left to talk about.

My guess is that soon we'll be hearing about the latest gilbert siting, if he should have been at the game, or why did he come to the lockerroom and didn't stay for the game, and ole my god! It goes on and on!

You know, reading you and your sick obsession, and I'm almost hoping Gil does go somewhere else so you'll follow him.

And then you can entertain those fans with the stories about how Gil answered your E-Mail once. After it was mentioned here about 30 or 40 times it got really old.

I've rooted for this team since Earl the Pearl's rookie season and I'll keep rooting for them through good times and bad. Like most here I like to talk about this team and find you're not really relevent most of the time.

Come up with something thoughtful and intelligent to say once and awhile and you might get civil intelligent responses for a change.

Posted by: GM | November 23, 2007 03:01 PM "

If only they made you god, then I could go away, but too bad you're not.

"You just can't run a team saying that whatever a guy wants to do, he's allowed to do.

Posted by: Mitch | November 23, 2007 11:06 AM "

Mitch, you forget that this is a "player's league." Players, with their guaranteed contracts, rule the league. That's why whenever there's a dispute between a coach and a player, the coach goes. Do you think EG or EJ were going to drop the hammer on sir quirkiness and tell him what he can and cannot do when Gilby told everyone he's opting out?

The entire organization was walking on eggshells up until he got injured. That's why they signed DS and they feel compelled to have to sign AJ also, and AJ ain't taking the minimum.

"No one asked you to go away, just act like you have something intelligent to say. But looking a your body of work so far that's a going to be a stretch.

Posted by: GM | November 23, 2007 03:12 PM "

What has your "body" of work proven?

I could go down the list ad nauseum to enlighten you of the things that I predicted that came true, but then you'd just resort to saying that by me talking about facts is in some way being a Gilby hater. Call me whatever you want, but the facts speak for themselves. Deal with it.

Just read Gilbert's blog. Looks like he's got some personal issues as well as the knee. One thing still does not make sense. Was he cleared to run steps, parachute and bike? What was his rehab? Who was in charge of it? Did he do what the doctor and PT told him, or did he do it on his own? Also, was the team watching him and that knee? Did the team request the MRI or did Gil? Ivan, ask GA about this stuff, because it does not add up. Leaving for the game in a hour, see you Wiz fans there.

Right now the Wiz need to keep winning the games like tonight's if they are to stay alive.

Posted by: GM | November 23, 2007 02:26 PM

GS is not as bad as their record, but, yeah, the Wiz could win 3 of 5 left in Nov. Just looking at their schedule, Dec has a bunch of 'winnable' games. They have a shot at .500 in Jan. Feb is brutal. March they close out with 7 of 8 on the road. Yeah, they better get their wins now.